By: Justin Gincauskas
The future of the Winter Classic does not look good. According to Sports Media Watch, the 2024 Winter Classic averaged just 1.10 million viewers across TNT and truTV, which is the lowest viewership in the event’s history.
In this year’s edition, the Seattle Kraken took on the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington. The event featured some memorable moments, which included the Kraken players walking out to the Pike Place Market fishmongers throwing fish over their heads. Seattle got the best of Vegas in the annual outdoor game, defeating the Golden Knights 3-0.
The first Winter Classic took place in 2008. That game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres had an average of 3.75 million viewers. From 2008 to 2020, NBC had the broadcast of the Winter Classic. In 2021, TNT received the rights to the game and has broadcasted three games since. There was no Winter Classic game in 2013 and 2021.
During the years when NBC owned the Winter Classic event, the viewership never dipped below 1.96 million. The game with the highest viewership came in the 2011 Winter Classic when an average of 4.50 million tuned in to watch the Washington Capitals defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1.
Since 2014, viewership for the Winter Classic has been on the decline. After the first six games averaged at least 3.6 million viewers, there has been only one game since that has reached three million. The Winter Classic viewership has not been above two million since 2019.
Outdoor Games No Longer Meaningful
2014 marked the beginning of the NHL Stadium Series, which is a series of outdoor NHL games held each year. There have been 13 installments of the Stadium Series, with two more to take place this season. The Stadium Series, along with the NHL Heritage Classic, have made outdoor games less meaningful. With multiple opportunities to watch an outdoor NHL game, fans are not as excited about the Winter Classic as they used to be.
If the league wants to make the Winter Classic the biggest NHL event of the season again, they should cut down on some of the other outdoor games. It also does not help the viewership numbers that TNT will air the Winter Classic through the 2027-28 season.
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